Good afternoon, Disaboomers! Alejandro Albor
has been having problems blogging in Beijing, so yesterday I (a Disaboom employee) had the
opportunity to speak with him as he regaled me with tales of training
camp in Colorado Springs and his adventures in Beijing so far.
First up is
Alejandro’s experience at training camp in Colorado Springs. He arrived
at Colorado Springs on August 19th, only to have to immediately fly
back home on the 20th to Sacramento to take care of a few pressing
issues. He returned to Colorado Springs on the 23rd, though, ready to
train! Unfortunately, ever since getting hit by a van
in June, Alejandro has had issues with his left shoulder. With the help
of the training center medical staff, he was able to manage the
injury/pain at a functional level.
All the days
the cycling team spent at the training center were fairly monotonous:
Get up at 6 am, eat breakfast at 7, be ready for a bike ride at 8 and
ride for 2 to 3 hours. The beneficial aspect of training in Colorado
Springs is the high altitude, which is toted to increase red blood cell
counts in athletes and improve their performance overall. Alejandro
said that the athletes always come to Colorado before competitions
outside the U.S.
On one of the
last days of training, the cycling team went on a ride at Black Forest
(named for the multitude of pines in the forest). At one point during
the ride, the team was going downhill at 35 mph. The cyclist who was
leading the pack made a sharp left 90 degree turn, and Alejandro wasn’t
able to maneuver the same turn. He flipped his bike and landed on his
right (his good!) shoulder and hit his head (luckily, he was wearing a
helmet). After immediately visiting the training center’s medical team,
Alejandro was relieved to find out that while he was in pain, his
injury only amounted to a bone bruise.
The next few days involved short training rides and packing, and on September 3rd the team was Beijing-bound!
